{Exploring Married Life One Day, Dish and Debacle at a Time}

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Our first of three Blue Apron Meals was a success! Their Fresh Basil Fettuccine recipe was oh-so good! We plan to make it again! Adam and I both had high hopes for our next two meals.

Next on the menu? Bhindi Masala with Paneer, Naan and Cucumber Raita.

Don’t worry we had no idea what it was either!

We were recently introduced to Indian Cuisine from Adam’s cousin, Erik and our neighbors Kokil and Neil. We knew we loved Chicken Tikka Masala {a spicy chicken dish served over rice} Chicken Curry {thanks to Neil and Kokil} and thought surely we’d enjoy this Masala meal too.

Well….that is a debatable topic in the Fett Household. Adam loved the dish! Again, very surprising. I on the other hand had mixed emotions. The flavor was fantastic. I could eat the tomato based sauce over rice and veggies anytime. The Paneer Cheese… is an acquired taste. In all honesty, we googled it because we just knew we were eating Tofu! The cheese has a different texture and if you are a texture freak like me, you might want to substitute it for something else, like more veggies or a meat. Other than the texture of the cheese the dish was delicious! We would definitely make it again with a few changes.

Instructions

Wash and dry the fresh produce. Dice the paneer cheese and onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Core and medium dice the tomato. Cut off and discard the okra stems; slice into 1-inch-thick rounds. Pick the cilantro and mint leaves off the stems. Grate the cucumber; place in a bowl with the yogurt. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a small pot, combine and boil the rice, a big pinch of salt and 11⁄2 cups of water. Once boiling, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 12 to 14 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from heat and fluff the cooked rice with a fork.

While the rice simmers, in a medium pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil on medium-high until hot. Add the paneer cheese; season with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides.

While the rice continues to simmer, add the garlic, onion and spice blend to the pan of paneer; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 4 minutes, or until softened and fragrant. Add the tomato and 3⁄4 cup of water; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 to 6 minutes, or until thoroughly combined and slightly thickened.

Add the okra to the pan of paneer and vegetables; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes, or until thoroughly combined and the okra is slightly softened.

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the cooked rice between 2 bowls; top with the finished bhindi masala. Wipe out the pan.

Heat the same, dry pan on medium-high until hot. Working 1 piece at a time, add the store bought naan and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute per side, or until lightly browned and warmed through. Carefully transfer to a cutting board; cut each warmed naan into 6 wedges. Garnish the bowls of cooked rice and finished bhindi masala with the cilantro and mint.

Serve with the naan wedges and raita on the side. Enjoy!

The flavors were so good! Next time instead of using the Paneer we would substitute it for chicken.

Are you a fan of Blue Apron? What have been your favorite meals? Share them with us!

We hope you are enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

If a recipes calls for two cloves of garlic, lets add four! Making steam veggies? Drizzle a little olive oil, sprinkle a little salt and pepper, and a heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic.

Now, when I do make veggies Adam asks that I not add anything and he will doctor his up himself because “All (he) tastes is garlic!” Whoops! Guess I am fond of garlic!

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is theChef’n Garlic Zoom. If you cook with fresh garlic you will love it too! You no longer have to spend a long time chopping it- hoping you don’t cut yourself or using all of your energy to squeeze it out of a fancy garlic press all thanks to this handy little invention!

Photo Credits: Google

I got my Zoom in as a stocking stuffer a few years ago and don’t know how I ever chopped garlic without it! It is such a favorite in our household. I gave the Zoom as a gift to a couple of my girlfriends last Christmas! We have used it while making multiple BLUE APRON meals this week!

How does it work?

Simply pop the top. Put a few peeled garlic cloves inside the ball. Close the top and roll.

Photo Credits: Google

Photo Credits: AliExpress

As the Zoom rolls, the small blades inside chop the garlic in seconds!

Take a look at this YouTube video to see exactly how it works! You can grab the Zoom online, at Target and I have most recently seen it at TJMaxx! Trust me when I say, if you use the Zoom it will be your FRIDAY FAVORITE too!

Do you already have a Zoom? Let us know what you think! As soon as you order and use yours- tell us how it goes! You will LOVE IT!

We hope you are enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

I cheered with excitement as Adam and I returned home yesterday from lunch in the city with our friend and my sorority sister, Ann Marie. We both had anxiously been waiting for our Sunday delivery from Blue Apron and it had arrived!

Wash the veggies. Fill a medium pot with water, season with salt and bring to a boil. Cut off the ends of the zucchini, quarter length wise and thinly cut crosswise. Peel the garlic and mince. (We have an awesome kitchen gadget that minces garlic- stay tuned for our Friday Favorite on that!) The original recipe says to cut the tomatoes in half, however, we quartered them.

In a large pan, heat 2 TSP of Olive Oil. Add the zucchini, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes (to taste) season with salt and pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes until slightly soften. Add tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook 3-4 minutes until soften. Remove from heat.

While the tomatoes cook, add the pasta to the water. Cook 2-3 minutes until al dente. Drain. Reserve 1/2 cup of water.

Add the cook pasta, butter and half of the reserved water to the veggie mixture. Season with salt and pepper and cook on medium-high for 2 minutes. Stir and throughly combine.

Plate. Garnish with cheese and ENJOY!

This meal was WONDERFUL! It made just enough for Adam and I to both have plenty and be comfortably full. Highly recommend trying to make it at home or order from Blue Apron yourself! We will definitely be making it again!

We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

Vacations come and go. As fun as it is to go, see and do, it is always nice to come home and sleep in your own bed. Now, we throwback. Reminisce on our travels, sort through pictures and start planning our next get-a-way.

July was a full month of traveling for your favorite Newly Newlyweds. Together we conquered Myrtle Beach, Orlando, New York and a quick overnight stay in Charleston, South Carolina. One of our favorite cities y’all!

While we were only there for a night, Adam and I made sure to make the most of our time. Charleston is less than a 5 hour drive from Atlanta and got there just in time for HAPPY HOUR!

Watch out Charleston, here WE come!

We checked into our hotel, the beautiful Belmond Charleston Place. It is stunning y’all! Right off of Market Street – within walking distance to all of our favorite spots! {Not to mention it is attached to a shopping mall…poor Adam.}

From Amen Street we popped over to High Cotton Charleston– a new spot for us. They have a great bar/lounge area with live music. They don’t have a Happy Hour Menu. We stopped in for a cocktail and their Truffle Popcorn- OMG y’all….I could eat it everyday!

Cocktails at High Cotton Charleston

From Cocktails and Popcorn at High Cotton we moved to Poogan’s Smokehouse. New to the Charleston Food Scene and for those of you that love their sister restaurant, Poogan’s Porch, you’re sure to love this spot too!

Southern Sangria at Poogan’s Smokehouse

We shared their “Southern Sangria” and snacked on their Pimiento Cheese Fritters with Tomato Jam…oh y’all. They are a MUST when you visit..melt in your mouth, ooey goodness. Craving them now!

Pimento Cheese Fritters at Poogan’s Smokehouse- so delicious!

Next on our list to see was 5 Church Street. We are not quite sure on the story of the restaurant, but being that Charleston is known as the “City of Churches” we would not be surprised if this newer spot was once a church.

Photo Credits 5 Church Street

The ambiance was unlike any other, however the service and variety offered was subpar. We sipped on an {overpriced} cocktail and hopped to our final spot of the night.

Farmhouse Lemonade and Rosemary Gin Fizz

The Watch sits on the top of The Restoration Hotel in Charleston. It has some of the best views of the city and the BEST service we experienced during our stay.

Hugo’s Punch at The Watch

We had one last cocktail, shared their Lobster Mac & Cheese and Hushpuppies with house pimento cheese & pepper jelly. Oh y’all. Heaven on a plate. The Mac & Cheese had just the right amount of gooey cheese, pasta and fresh lobster pieces. We will definitely be back!

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Are you stuffed? We are just thinking about our night in Charleston and can’t wait to plan our next visit! Throwbacks are so much fun thinking about how much enjoyed out short time in Charleston! We packed our bags, hopped in the car and drove onto Myrtle Beach where we met up with our friends David and Ann Marie. Stay tuned to our Tuesday Travels and see what we got into there!

Do you have a favorite spot in Charleston or Myrtle Beach? Share them with us! We’d love to give them a try on our next visit!

Hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

Our final day on the West Coast. We planned to take the red eye home to allow us more time in the city…that may or may not have been a good idea. We enjoyed our time in the city, but took us about 3 days to get over the jet lag.

I am so glad we took the time to do this tour- it was our favorite thing about our time in San Francisco. We took the first ship out at 8:45am {if you can’t get tickets for the night tour, bite the bullet and take the first tour.}

We’ve mastered the “selfie” don’t you think?

We were the only one on the island for a about 30-45minutes and were able to get most of the audio tour done without having to fight around people. They are prepared for a very large crowd- the line for headphones for the cell audio tour can easily be a 2 hour wait. The cell tour was about an hour long and is FREE! (Guess what? They have a Twitter too!)

{Travel Tip: We heard the best tour to do, if you’re not too chicken, is the night tour. It does book out months in advance, so if you can plan ahead go for it!}

BEST BALL FIELD EVER! I can’t say we saw much of the inside of the stadium, but we did find the best hidden gem! Alongside the far right field wall the Giants have a hidden viewing area for FREE! Thats right, you can literally get some free baseball! For 3-4 innings the staff allows 20-25 people in this viewing area to watch the game. Since we live in Atlanta we couldn’t justifying paying $75 to see the Braves play, but am so glad we found this secret spot. The area outside the stadium is so fun too! Boaters wade in the bay area outside the outfield, after each home run they all blow their horns- we even saw a few passengers jump ship to fetch balls! Such a fun time!

Their “menu” is a mix of a magazine and cookbook each item accompanied by a photo- wish we would have found this spot sooner! We both had a bread bowl with chowder and spilt a iron skillet of mussels- oh my gosh! Oh so good! I’d plan a trip back just to go there! (Don’t worry they have a Twitter too!)

Whew! What a great, quick vacation! Adam and I had such a good time seeing the sites and trying new things! We’re really looking forward to going back especially to the Napa area. Now back to reality.

We hope you’re enjoying your Newly Newlywed of Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!

Cheers!

Adam & Holly

PS: Remember, we’re newlyweds, not experts.

(Whoops- we forgot to tell y’all about our Trolley Car photo shoot- never made time to ride on a rail car, but we did get our picture with one!)

After weeks of researching and following other travel blogs it was finally time for @Helihubby and I to head to the West Coast! Our bags were overpacked and we were off to start Adam’s 30th Birthday Celebration!

We flew Delta– Lord knows that is another story! Thanks to Delta’s little mess up, I almost didn’t make it through TSA Screeners! With a little Southern Charm and persuading them with my Stella&Dot Business Cards (with my maiden name) they let me through! WHEW! We flew into SFO, picked up our rental car and our first stop? A very late night supper stop at IN-N-OUT Burger. YUMMMMM!!!!

{In-N-Out Burger is the Fast Food joint of the stars. Know for their “secret menu” it’s the Waffle House of the West!}

The first two days of our trip were spent in Napa. If you have not been and like wine-or don’t like wine- it is a must do trip! We absolutely loved this portion of our vacation! The only thing we wish we had done differently was allowed more time to just relax at our hotel, The Meritage Resort.They welcomed us with a bottle of wine and a view of a vineyard outside our backdoor. We could have spent a week in Napa alone.

Thursday:

We started the day about 7am. First stop, Oakville Grocery. We heard time and time again from friends about this “cute little grocery store” we just had to stop at on our way into Napa Valley. Boy were they right! It was darling!

Oakville is a great stop to start {or end} your day. They have a reasonably priced and unique sandwich menu with picnic tables in a vineyard to dine. Adam and I each had a Breakfast Sandwich…wish I could remember what it was, but oh so tasty!

We did a little shopping- picked up a loaf of bread, a selection of local cheeses and meats for us to snack on throughout the day.

{This is the way to go! If you’re planning a day of tastings stop and grab some snacks. There are not many places to stop for lunch between vineyards.}

Oakville is full of local products and has so much character. During their recent renovation they discovered a well (pictured below) that was originally made when Oakville began in the 1800’s.

Apparently Napa is a small world! I ran into one of my best friends from Middle/High School, Brianna and her fiancé Darryl at The Castle! They were recently engaged at Frog’s Leap Winery and were back visiting. They have a great engagement story, if you have some time give it a read!

Touring The Castle was one of our favorite things we did on our trip.

I will say, the tour is fantastic, you learn a lot about the property. Did you know it was used for a Rose Ceremony for the Bachelor during Jake Pavelka’s season? (See the atrium picture below) If you are interested in learning more about the wine and the wine making process, the general tour is probably not for you. That was the only disappointment we left with- wish we had learned more about wine rather than the facility.

Out of all the wineries we visited and tastings we did, we left The Castle with the most bottles of wine! We had heard mixed reviews on their selection and really didn’t know what to expect going into the tour. They ended up having two fantastic, sweet wines that both Adam and I enjoyed. We were able to taste 5 wines each accompanied with Sea Salted Chocolate- to die for! Best part of the tasting!

During our Castle Tour we also got to sample a Cabernet right out of the barrel- pretty cool! Cheers to our first tasting!

Sterling is the only vineyard with an arial tram- spectacular views! We really enjoyed the pace of this winery. They had 5 or 6 different tasting stations for us to visit. We were able to go at our pace touring the vineyard and tasting the variations they offered. Definitely worth visiting for the views alone! (Part of your entrance fee includes a Sterling Wine glass to take home.) Cheers!

From Sterling we hopped over to Beringer. Beringer was not originally on our schedule, but just happens to be the producer of a White Zin that my Aunt Tina’s loves. Soooo we just had to stop by!

Do you Beringer fans recognize this house? If not, grab a bottle of their White Zin and it may come to you!

We continued our planned tastings to Sutter Home Winery. Sutter Home is the only winery in the Valley that still offers FREE, yes, you read correctly, FREE tastings! You are offered a variety of 5 samplings- some of the wines are sold nationally in your local grocery store and others are specific to only being sold at the winery.

Sutter Home was my favorite stop along our route. Our server, Jennifer, was so friendly and knowledgable…and not to mention she is a huge BRAVES fan! While at our tasting we ran into another couple from Atlanta and just had the best time tasting and getting tips of things to see and do in San Francisco! It was the most fun we’d had at a tasting all day! Thanks Jennifer!

{Then again, maybe we just liked it so much because they gave us these bottles of wine!}

On the way to our final winery we ended up taking a detour to Freemark Abbey’s tasting room. They are currently going through renovations, but we had a great time at our impromptu tasting. They had a wide selection of red wines to taste- Adam and I shared one tasting flight. It’s a small venue right now- standing room only, but a nice little spot to stop if you want to avoid the crowds.

Whew! Are you tired yet? Five wineries in the books on Day 1 and just one more to go! Our last Vineyard for the day was Mumm.

Mumm is known for their Bubbly- what a fun way to end our first day!

All their tastings are table service in an open atrium setting and have spectacular views! It was a great place to end our tasting tour for the day. (Side note- we did visit near closing time and traffic leaving was horrible! Keep that in mind for future plans)

Our final stop on the way back to the resort was the V Marketplace in Yountville. You’ve got to stop by while you are in the Napa area. The vintage 1870 building is the home to Napa’s original hot air balloon company. The building has been restored and is now home to multiple shops, art galleries and restaurants. We browsed around Napa Style- a cafe style shop with all sorts of locally made cooking spices and sauces. (Stay tuned to our Friday Favorites Blog for a details on one of our favorite souvenirs!)

We grabbed a few appetizers and cocktails at Bottega. Oh-My-Gosh! If you can get in, definitely make a stop! Food Network Chef, Michael Chiarello, created a farm to table Italian style menu. It was fantastic! We ordered Polpette alla Griglia-Grilled short rib meatballs, Chiarello Family Vineyard Zinfandel conserva, Cipollini agrodolce, kumqats, sunchoke passata-so delicious! We could have ordered more! We also tried their Calamari Fritti a Monterey Calamari crisped with Arborio rice flour and aioli nero. Each table is served a bread loaf with an absolutely amazing Asiago and Reggiano cheeses dip with fresh garlic, chili and fresh herbs. It is to die for y’all! Oh so yummy! I’m craving it now!

Can’t forget to mention our favorite part…cocktails! I had some sort of Spiked Lemonade with Rosemary…cheers!

What a busy and exciting first day of visiting Napa! Six wineries in one day! Stay tuned for {Part 2} of our West Coast Wanders later this week!

All of the Vineyards we visited on Day 1 can be found on @Twitter. Look into following them, send them a tweet them prior to your visit, especially if you are celebrating something. Each Winery we visited went out of their way to say “Happy Birthday” to Adam or give him an extra tasting because of a tweet I previously mentioned. LOVE LOVE LOVE Twitter…you should too!

I wish I could take credit for coming up with it, but I can’t. One of my most dearest friends, Kristy, recently made it for her husband’s 30th Birthday….and it was love at first bite. Thank you Kristy {and Pinterest} for this most delicious recipe and this weeks Friday Favorties!

To begin, prepare your cookies and chocolate. Using a food processor, crush the cookies into a fine crumble. Set aside. (Remember if you use a store bought crust you can skip this and step 3&4).

Using a small pairing knife, gently run the knife along the dark chocolate bar, creating small shavings. {I used a microplane– made it SO much easier and quicker} This is a bit time consuming but completely worth it. Large chunks will not work in this filling. Set chocolate aside. Do the same with the Ferrero Rocher chocolates and set aside.

Melt butter and combine with cookie until all the crumbs are saturated.

Using a 9-inch pie plate, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pie plate, covering the entire surface and forming the crust. Make sure the cookie mixture is evenly distributed. Place in the freezer.

With an electric hand or standing mixer, combine the cream cheese, shaved dark chocolate, sugar, and hazelnut chocolate spread. In three to five minutes, the mixture should become light and fluffy. Then, on a low setting, combine Cool Whip and 10 chopped Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Combine well.

Remove the crust from the freezer. Using a spatula, spread the filling mixture over the crust, covering completely and smoothly. Return to the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to allow the filling to firm.

Once the filling has grown semi-firm, remove from freezer. Cover the filling with Cool Whip. Then, sprinkle with remaining four Ferrero Rocher chocolate pieces.

Serve and enjoy!

Photo Credits: flourandfancy.com

Seriously y’all it is the best no bake pie. A Nutella lovers dream. Delicious! It was so good we forgot to take more photos!

Hope y’all are enjoying your Newly Newlywed or Nearly Newlywed moments as much as we are!